Motorsport eNews Issue 32 - November 27-December 3, 2007

The world of motorsport every week – directly to your desktop

Issue No. 032 27 November – 3 December 2007

TWo TRIBES go to war TEAMVODAFONE & TOLL HSV HEAD-TO-HEAD in v8 showdown

will prodrive save renault?

Editorial Editor: Grant Rowley grant@mnews.com.au National Editor: Andrew van Leeuwen andrew@mnews.com.au Staff Journalist: Bill Riddell bill@mnews.com.au Executive Editor: Phil Branagan editor@mnews.com.au

Australasian

The ‘A’ Team

Issue No. 032 | 27 November – 3 December2007

Production Graphic Design & Web: Jayne Uthmeyer design@mnews.com.au

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chat 18 5 minutes with ... opinion 20 Shepherd 21 Priaulx 37 Punter

Contributing Writers F1: Joe Saward, Mark Glendenning, Adam Cooper, Paolo Filisetti Europe: Quentin Spurring, David Addison US: Martin D. Clark, Phil Morris Speedway: Greg Boscato, Geoff Rounds, Darren Sutton, Tony Millard (UK) Rally: Ryan Lahiff Drag Racing: Dave Ostaszewski (USA), Ken Ferguson, John Bosher National: Mark Wicks, Mark Jones, Aaron Shaw, Daniel Powell

Photographers Sutton Motorsport Images, Dirk Klynsmith, Marshall Cass, John Morris/Mpix, AF1 Images, James Smith, Peter Bury, Neil Blackbourn, Chris Carter, Coopers Photography, Ash Budd, Paris Charles, Neil Hammond, Joel Strickland, Mike Patrick (UK) Motorsport eNews is published by Australasian Motorsport News ABN 55 125 120 702 Publisher: C Lambden Copyright: Material published in Motorsport eNews is copyright and may not be reproduced in full or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

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Opinions expressed in Motorsport eNews are not necessarily those of Australasian Motorsport News or its staff.

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race 28 Jedi Master Yodel 30 Astral Weeks 33 Magic Ireland

Top four in Lockdown A Small move to PMM Prodrive’s ‘Lifeboat’ F1 looks at slick return Cody’s development role Marcos Ambrose Top Fuel’s Top Sort Winning (another) title Election Disfunction Swiss cleans up A1GP Porsches dominate No, Island Magic

trade 34 Trade and Industry / Raceshop / Classifieds

welcome After a bad weekend, our mate relaxes with Motorsport News.

Or, is he scanning the classifieds for a job?

Check out the latest eNews supplements via http://www.mnews.com.au

BRIEFLY...

Walkabout to Woods Aussies flock to Ambrose and Wood Bros as he makes the step to Cup NASCAR

Dirk Klynsmith

n Mark Skaife will make his 200th ATCC-V8 Supercar round start this weekend at Phillip Island.

Skaife, 40, started out in the series at Sandown 20 years ago, and with 38 wins, has won more rounds than any driver in the series’ history. Russell Ingall, with 159 starts, is the second most-experienced among current drivers. n Dean Fiore will replace David Reynolds in the Sandown GT Classic.

Fiore will race in the Sonic entry with Sven Burchatz and John Trend, replacing Reynolds, who will be in Germany for the worldwide Carrera Cup awards. n James Courtney will make a return appearance on Tuesday’s Dancing with the Stars finale but all eyes will be on the US version.

Helio Castroneves is in the final three of the show and is considered a favourite to take the title with partner Julianne Hough. The big question is, should the former Indy 500 winner bag the title, what will he climb to do his famed Spiderman impersonation? n With this issue, Motorsport News welcomes Bill Riddell to the team. Riddell slots into the staff journalist role and will be working on both eNews and MNews, which means we get to throw him into a fivedeadline-a-month schedule right away, until he decides to run away to the North Pole for

WOOD Brothers/JTG Racing is becoming an Australian haven in North Carolina.

At the same time that the team confirmed that Marcos Ambrose will move up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008, Walter Giles was confirmed as his crew chief.

The Aussie was most recently with DEI, where he was crew chief on the #1 Martin Truex entry.

As well, Ken Douglas and Paul Forgie, who worked with Ambrose at Stone Brothers Racing, are on-board with the legendary Ford team.

“I rate Ken very, very highly and he came here last year for a look,” said Ambrose last week.

“Paul Forgie … is learning the ropes and he is tucked away in the corner, not exposing himself too much while he learns and he will come online

for us next year.”

Ambrose will drive a Wood Bros Ford in 12 Cup races, starting at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, on June 22. He will race in the full 35round Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal entry.

As well, Ambrose will become the front man for all of sponsor Little Debbie. The cake snacks brand, which has committed to the team for two years, will be on one of the Wood cars for 18 races, with driver details for the other events to be announced.

Dear Santa, I’ve been very good ...

NASCAR SANTA Claus is going to be delivering a bunch of high-definition televisions in four weeks’ time.

Network 10 has confirmed that it will be broadcasting a lot of motor racing on its new HD ‘second’ channel next season and that might include Formula 1 and MotoGP. What is confirmed is that the network will be the home of NASCAR, with all 39 Sprint Cup races broadcast, most in a one-hour, edited format. But all Marcos Ambrose fans will be thrilled with the news that all Nationwide (formerly Busch) rounds, featuring Ambrose’s #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion, will be beamed to Australia live, mostly on Sunday mornings.

Motorsport eNews believes that the ‘big four’ Cup races – the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 at Indy, Talledega’s Ford 400 and the final race at Homestead, will be shown in full, and live.

Our sources suggest that Formula 1 races are high on the network’s wish list. The network’s head of sport David White confirmed that discussions have been started with Formula One Management but that at this point, there is no decision either way.

The HD channel – which is #1 on the dial – will replicate DVD-quality, with full resolution 1080i High Definition pictures and 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound.

The network expects to confirm its other motorsport programming for the new channel in the next few weeks.

news

Both images Dirk Klynsmith

n w o d Lock

Title contenders go under the radar prior to championship decider at Phillip Island V8 SUPERCARS TEAMVODAFONE and Toll HSV have both put their drivers into lockdown in preparation for this weekend’s title deciding V8 Supercar round at Phillip Island.

Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, and Garth Tander and Rick Kelly were all placed in ‘blackout’ mode on Monday to allow them to fully concentrate on the three races that will decide the 2007 Champion. The teams are concerned

that their pre-race attention, following last year’s decider, may prove to be an unnecessary distraction on the eve of the race.

For the second year in a row, Triple 8 Race Engineering and Toll-HSV have drivers in contention for the battle.

Mathematically, all four drivers are in contention for the title but defending Champion Rick Kelly is a longshot and could be eliminated from contention as early as Saturday’s first race.

What has been notable is that all the

drivers have had at least one bad round in the last three events and that mistakes will be at a premium with the title on the line.

Other drivers in the field are split on what their roles will be on the weekend. A number of informal conversations indicate that some of the drivers want to stay out of the battle for the crown this weekend but, it seems, an almost equal number want to finish their year with a win and leave the contenders to scrap over the minor placings …

V8 SUPERCARS TEAM Kiwi Racing is ready to race in 2008 – but with which technical partner remains to be seen.

The David John-owned outfit has been through a tumultuous year, and the off-season is going to be an interesting one.

John recently confirmed in a press statement that all of his

major sponsors have re-signed multi-year contracts with Team Kiwi Racing – including 3M, Makita, BNT, Dunlop, Castrol, Wattyl Paints and Ford NZ. But two things that weren’t breached in the statement were his driver and technical partner.

When contacted by eNews, John said that rookie star Shane van Gisbergen has been locked in for the 2008 season, while

Dirk Klynsmith

TKR all dressed up, but where to go? his technical partnership with Stone Brothers Racing will be up for negotiation at the conclusion of the Phillip Island round.

Rumours have swirled over the past weeks, suggesting that the all-black team has again hit financial difficulties.

John remains adamant, though, that it’s “business as usual” at TKR headquarters.

Dirk Klynsmith

BRIEFLY... n Motorsport News and eNews readers will be winners this Christmas!

When customers make a purchase of any Holden Racing Team merchandise at participating Holden Dealerships and Lions Den Stores, customers will have the chance to win more than $200,000 in cash, prizes and offers.

When you purchase a piece of HRT merchandise you will automatically receive a ‘HRT Hot Ticket’ to Scratch and Win Instantly. Upon scratching the ticket, a Hot HRT prize or offer will be revealed. n The Castrol EDGE Winternationals at Willowbank will expand for 2008 and 2009.

Currently held as a Queen’s Birthday weekend three-day event, the 2008 program will see it incorporate an extra half-day of proceedings on the Thursday afternoon, while the 2009 program will see the event held over four days from Friday to Monday. n Honda is evaluating a

2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship campaign, using a race version of its Accord. Former semifactory Alfa Romeo team N.Technology is talking with Honda after Alfa decided for a fesh attack with the 147.

– STAFF/SPURRING

Testing Times for Tyres V8 SUPERCARS DUNLOP will conduct a special test at Phillip Island on the Tuesday after the Grand Finale.

The tyre run is testing a polymer change, which is an additive used in the construction of the tyre.

Once given the tick of approval, the new tyre will be first raced after Bathurst 2008.

TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup and the Holden Racing Team’s Mark Skaife have been entrusted with the testing duties and will complete a five lap run (simulating qualifying), before doing a single stint on full tanks.

Dunlop Motorsport manager Kevin Fitzsimmons said that the additive will not affect the performance of the tyre.

“The actual grip level won’t

change, but we needed to do test it on the toughest track,” he said.

“As per TEGA’s instructions, they don’t want the characteristic of the tyre to change at all, so we are just checking the wear rates. It’s a very straightforward test.”

Dunlop is the naming-rights sponsor of this weekend’s titledeciding Phillip island round.

– GRANT ROWLEY

GT on ‘08 AGP support bill GRAND PRIX SUPPORTS THE Australian GT Championship is the latest addition to the Australian Grand Prix support schedule.

That’s the news from today’s (Monday) official 2008 AGP launch, which revealed that along with the GTs, Aussie Racing Cars will return to Albert Park, as will Carrera Cup (see separate story).

It was also announced that there will be a theme for the Celebrity Challenge – Australian sporting legends. Retiring AFL star Nathan Buckley is the first and only confirmed participant at this stage, while the cars are rumoured to be Fiat 500s.

Other announcements included the confirmation of Kiss as a post-race concert, as well as free admission for kids under 12.

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GRM tech guru on the move TALENTED race engineer James Small has been poached by Paul Morris Motorsport and will leave Garry Rogers Motorsport at the conclusion of this weekend’s final round at Phillip Island.

Small, a racer in his own right, will join the Queensland-based outfit next year, and is believed to be heading up the spanners on PMM’s new driver, who (subject to confirmation on January 1) will be Russell Ingall.

Small will join his father Les, who already works at the Morris team.

Small currently engineers Lee Holdsworth’s car, and the pair have enjoyed a successful year, taking a round win at Oran Park and qualifying inside the top 10 on numerous occasions.

“I think with most engineers, it takes a while to build a relationship, but it came pretty quick for us and it’s a shame it’s coming to an end,” Holdsworth said.

“It’s been excellent. He understands my feedback, and he know what I need out

of the car.

“Being a race drive himself, he has a better understanding of what I mean when I’m running around the track and giving my feedback.”

While the GRM team is now on the look out for a new engineer for Holdsworth’s car (as well as a data engineer), he is looking forward to sampling his first taste of Walkinshaw Group engine power next year as exclusively reported by eNews last week.

“It will be interesting to see how they go,” Holdsworth said.

“We’ll be able to make positions up on the track rather than in the pits!

“But you can’t be too critical on our current engines. It’s tough to keep up with the teams who have huge bigger budgets and have access to the latest technology for their engine development.

“Mike (Excel, GRM engine builder) has produced very reliable engines and it’s a shame to have to source them from another team, but it’s a step in the right direction for GRM.” – GRANT ROWLEY

John Morris/Mpix

V8 SUPERCARS

Peter Bury

BRIEFLY... n Honda Racing F1 has been accused of stretching an agreement over testing at the recent Barcelona testing where the Super Aguri F1 team ran a 2007 Honda RA107 for youngsters Andreas Zuber, Luca Filippi and Mike Conway.

Teams are limited to a maximum of 30,000km of tests and the laps by the young drivers were thus credited to Super Aguri rather than to Honda. This means Honda will have about 4300km left for the final tests of the year in Jerez. n BMW ran former Formula BMW champion Christian Vietoris and WTCC contender Augusto Farfus Jr in F1 cars at Valencia last week. Vietoris earned the test for winning the title while Farfus, 24, won three races and finished fourth in the WTCC standings with the Schnitzer-run BMW Team Germany. Farfus has been in touring car racing since 2004 after winning the Euro Formula 3000 title in 2003. n With BMW having let both Sebastian Vettel and Timo Glock go, the team is looking for a new third driver and there is speculation that this could be British Formula 3 racer Marko Asmer or Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg.

There is also vague talk of Robert Doornbos.

BMW says that it is planning to run two or three drivers in a test at Jerez in December to decide on who will get the job. n Cristiano da Matta was spotted at last week’s two day Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series test session at Daytona.

The Brazilian has been out of action since he suffered head injuries when he collided with a deer while testing in August 2006 at Elkhart Lake. Da Matta, 34, hopes to be able to race in the US Sportscar series.

– JOE SAWARD

Renault faces ‘McLaren’ Penalty Briatore downplays breach: Senior Renault engineers admit seeing data FORMULA 1 RENAULT has been trying very hard to play down the importance of espionage allegations in recent weeks, but a leak of details from the paperwork of the case has underlined the seriousness of the problem.

Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore has tried to shrug off the matter with the argument that the espionage was limited to just a few old floppy discs and that Renault engineers took only cursory glances at this data.

This is all well and good but serves only to underline the fact that Renault has already admitted to doing far more than anything that was ever proved against McLaren when the team was hit with its US$100m fine and lost all of its Constructors’ World Championship points. At the time, Briatore was one of the most vocal in calling for a strong penalty – which is now something he would rather forget.

It seems from Renault’s statements to date that the intention is to go before the

World Council and throw itself at the mercy of the body – as happened back in 1994 when the team was called Benetton – and argue that it was a rogue employee who caused all the problems.

The evidence, however, would seem to suggest that this defence is going to be hard to sustain. The complete dossiers from the various parties involved are now with the FIA and we hear that McLaren’s includes no fewer than 18 witness statements from senior Renault F1 employees, admitting that they saw the data from McLaren and the fact that the data was viewed from 11 different computers at Renault F1 headquarters.

The list of engineers involved includes Tim Densham (Chief Designer), Martin Tolliday (Deputy Chief Designer), James Allison (Deputy Technical Director), Robin Tuluie (Head of Research and Development), Nick Chester (Head of Vehicle Performance), Peter Duffy (Head of Mechanical Design) and Tony Osgood (Head of Transmission Design).

This is deeply damaging

evidence given that the FIA has so far failed to prove anything on this scale by McLaren, which also used the rogue employee defence in relation to Mike Coughlan. In McLaren’s case, there was no data ever found in the team’s computers and the most that was proved was that Mike Coughlan showed a Ferrari drawing to one of his colleagues and that he gave information about weight distribution to test driver Pedro de la Rosa.

The other point that is of key importance is what was on the disks. On this there will be no argument and we hear that it is rather more than a few simple systems as suggested recently

by Renault. McLaren will argue that the 11 discs involved included 33 files that featured 782 individual drawings, outlining McLaren systems from the 2006 and 2007 cars.

McLaren is also going to be claiming that Renault knowingly and deliberately disseminated the data amongst its engineers, which is very different from what Briatore has said in his public statements to date.

– JOE SAWARD

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Mecachrome, Prodrive, Super Annuation Renault and Babysitting FORMULA 1

FORMULA 1 RENAULT is not about the give up on Formula 1 in the immediate future – even if the team is punished for the espionage charges it is facing with the FIA. Mecachrome International has just announced that it has signed a new three-year contract with Renault to manufacture engines for the F1 program. This includes engines for both Renault F1 and Red Bull Racing.

Mecachrome is closest to Renault but also manufactures what it calls “key engine components for other Formula 1 constructors” and it lists both

Ferrari and BMW as its clients.

But there may be a secondary reason that Renault has sought a deal now. Bernie Ecclestone has said that he stopped a two-year ban on McLaren back in September and so one must consider this to be a possible scenario for Renault.

Should the FIA apply such a sanction and the team is prohibited from entering the 2008 championship, it may be that another entity provides the entry – and that could be Prodrive-Mecachrome.

Prodrive recently confirmed that its proposed McLaren deal would not proceed for 2008 and that it had in place

“financial backing from a partner new to the sport”. All it lacked was cars, drivers and an infrastructure to run a full F1 season – all of which exist at Renault F1’s Prodrive factory.

Such a scenario would allow the FIA to be seen to apply a severe punishment to Renault, but without driving the French manufacturer from the sport. The team’s current base and staff would stay in place until the storm blows over, by which time Prodrive would be free to pursue an arrangement with another team and manufacturer, under a new, post-2008 Concorde Agreement.

– JOE SAWARD/STAFF

THE Super Aguri F1 team is struggling for money.

In order to survive the winter, the team has now been forced to start layingoff staff. As many as 30 of the current 100 staff will leave. Team management is trying hard to find alternative employment for staff with Honda Racing F1 and other teams that need manufacturing staff during the winter months.

There has been some talk of late about there being potential investors but the lay-offs indicate that no such deal is close to completion.

– JOE SAWARD

Teams to test Bridgestone Slicks FORMULA 1

sutton-images.com

FORMULA 1 may be returning to slick tyres, perhaps as early as 2009.

Bridgestone Motorsport, the sole Formula 1 tyre supplier, will make slick tyres available to the teams for the upcoming group test at Jerez, Spain, over December 4-7.

At the request of the teams, Bridgestone will supply each with three sets of its treadless Potenza tyres, with the objective of gathering data for

the 2009 season.

Slicks have not be used in F1 since 1997, when the FIA mandated the use of tyres with longitudinal grooves in an attempt to reduce the grip of the cars and so improve racing.

The teams have agreed among themselves that any mileage completed on slicks during the tests will be outside the scope of the recently renegotiated testing limitation agreement.

– QUENTIN SPURRING

BMW’s Theissen wants ECU Delayed FORMULA 1 BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen has called on the FIA to reconsider its new-for-2008 mandatory requirement for the use of a standard-issue electronic control unit (ECU) on Formula One engines.

The standard ECU, supplied under the terms of FIA tender by a joint venture comprising Microsoft and (controversially) McLaren Electronics, has already been tested by all the teams at Barcelona.

The BMW Sauber principal expressed his

concerns that the standard ECU might not only not be cost-effective, but might also limit the effectiveness of environmentally friendly technologies such as kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS), which are due to be introduced to Grand Prix racing in 2009.

“We have already voiced various objections to the introduction of standard electronics,” he said.

“The process of converting cars, engines, gearboxes and, indeed, test rigs has already generated considerable extra costs. And there is an even more important

argument against the standard ECU going forward. Nowadays not just the car as a whole, but every single technical system is equipped with complex control electronics tailored specifically to the function of that particular system.

“The electronics represent the nerve centre, without which the system would only be capable of limited functionality or would not be able to function at all.

Our aim is to make F1 a pioneer in drive technology for the series-produced road cars of the future.”

– QUENTIN SPURRING

RACE CAR ENGINEER & DATA ENGINEER We have vacancies for a fully experienced, practical, hands-on Race Engineer and an experienced Data Engineer with extensive CAD skills to join our team.

We have some exciting development programs and we are confident our success will continue and grow

in season 2008.

Specialisedengineeringqualificationscouldassistany application, however a proven track record in our industry at the highest level will be a determining factor.

Contact Kevin Shawyer, Team Manager (03) 9793 6933 GARRY ROGERS MOTORSPORT

10

news

SUPERLEAGUE THE new Superleague Formula has announced six rounds in its maiden season.

The series, which will feature identical V12powered cars representing football teams, will have its first event in August.

To date, nine of the 20 slots have been allocated, to AC Milan (Italy), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), FC Porto (Portugal), Olympiacos (Greece), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Flamengo (Brazil) RSC Anderlecht (Belgium, artist’s impression below), FC Basel (Switzerland) and Galatasaray SK (Turkey).

Negotiations are continuing with other major clubs

from the UK, Europe, South America, Asia and the USA. One omission from the calendar is the venue for the race in soccer-mad Italy, with a TBA circuit listed for the event.

Broadcast details and drivers are in the process of being determined and all dates are subject to approval by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in early December.

AN OPPORTUNITY EXISTS to join the Motorsport News team in ADVERTISING SALES

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In the first instance, applications should be emailed to the Publisher at

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11

Dirk Klynsmith

Formula Ford tech changes loom V8 SUPERCARS FORMULA Ford’s technical make-up is set to undertake a change in the next couple of seasons, with Ford in Europe currently working towards bringing the category into line with FIA chassis regulations.

According to Ford’s UK Motorsport Manager Mike Norton, the process is in place, and will affect Formula Ford worldwide.

“We have been working with the FIA and MSA for about

18 months on this project,” Norton told eNews.

“The aim is to have FIA certification for Formula Ford chassis in 2009, and this being based broadly on current F3 crash test regulations.

“All the work thus far has been conducted on a 2007 Van Diemen and all tests so far have been passed without issue.”

From a local point of view the most affected by the change will be the Australianbuilt Spectrum chassis, but according to BRD’s Paul Zsidy,

they welcome the change.

“We’ve been aware of the process and we last heard thath they hope to have a set of regulations ratified by December,” said Zsidy.

“We welcome it, I mean any safety initiative we’re bang up for. And we don’t envisage any problems with the crash testing.”

Another technical upgrade that has been doing the rounds as a rumour is sequential gearboxes, however Norton says such a change

isn’t likely to happen anytime soon in Europe or Australia.

“We have regular team and constructor meetings throughout the year to discuss Formula Ford ideas, issues, and the future,” Norton said.

“Sequential gearbox has formed part of those discussions and, like all subjects, will be investigated.

[But] no decision has been taken with regard to a change to the current transmission regulations.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Carerra Cup and Mini calendars CARERRA CUP

Dirk Klynsmith

12

THE calendars for both the 2008 Carrera Cup and MINI Challenge have been officially revealed.

The major change in the Carrera Cup schedule is the return of Barbagallo Raceway, which hasn’t been part of the Porsche series since 2005. The return to the west comes at the expense of Hidden Valley.

The calendar will kick off at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, before the traditional non-championship

round at Albert Park, a return to Wakefield Park (to play support to the Fujitsu Series), the Barbagallo round, Sandown, Queensland Raceway, the Phillip Island 500, Bathurst, and, once again, the finale on the streets of the Gold Coast.

The inaugural MINI Challenge will kick off at Eastern Creek in March (Round 2 of the V8 Supercars), before running at Wakefield (again for the FV8s), Barbagallo, Sandown, Phillip Island, Bathurst, Symmons Plains and Oran Park.

news

Holden’s hot wagon for 12 Hour?

Could The General’s tough Sportswagon head up Holden’s assault on The Mountain in February?

BATHURST 12 HOUR HOLDEN is considering entering its exciting new VE Commodore Sportwagon in the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour.

According to Holden Motorsport manager Simon McNamara, no decision has been made as yet on which vehicle (or vehicles) will be run in the race, but they were evaluating all of their options.

But with less than three months until the race, time is running out for teams to

gather equipment for the event.

The production-based wagon is scheduled to hit Holden showrooms in the first half of 2008 Holden entered the 12 Hour last year with two Astras, driven by a team of V8 Supercar regulars and a team of fast femmes. The cars were prepared by Paul Morris Motorsport.

When GM premiered the new wagon at the recent Australian International

Motor Show, GM Holden Chairman and Managing Director Chris Gubbey put his spin on the company’s latest creation.

“The new VE Commodore Sportwagon puts the excitement back into practicality,” he said.

“The VE Sportwagon turns practi-’cal’ into practi-’cool’.”

The WPS Bathurst 12 Hour will be held at the famous Mountain circuit on February 8-10.

– GRANT ROWLEY

JB’s GT entry in doubt Carlin’s Kid AUSTRALIAN GT

FORMULA 3

sutton-images.com

SAM Abay is set to graduate to British F3 next season, having signed for top team Carlin Motorsport.

Abay saw out his Formula BMW career with Raikkonen Robertson Racing at Valencia at the weekend and admitted having spoken to the team for 2008.

“They have filled all their seats, though,” he said, “but I am rapt to be at Carlin. It’s a top team and they know how to win races and championships so I am really looking forward to the season.”

Abay has limited F3 experience, having done selected rounds of the Oz series in ‘05.

– DAVID ADDISON

Dirk Klynsmith

JOHN Bowe’s factory Lamborghini racecar has been sold, leaving his entry in the upcoming Sandown GT Classic in doubt.

Bowe had been racing the Lamborghini-owned Gallardo in the Australian GT Championshp, and was scheduled to drive the car with James Moffat at the endurance race.

But that entry is now in doubt following the car’s sale to Victorian Ross Lilley.

“The opportunity came along to sell the race car, so we took it,” said Lamborghini Melbourne’s Managing Director.

“Doing that now gives us the chance to buy another brand new Lamborghini GT3 race car.”

That car is likely to be a replacement car for Bowe’s GT program, while Smith and Lilley were expected to meet today (Monday) to discuss the Bowe/Moffat entry for Sandown.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

13

RALLYING FORMER Australian Rally Champion Cody Croker will play a leading role in developing the new Group N-spec Subaru WRX rally car.

Crocker, who recently wrapped up the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship for the Motor Image team, says the Subaru squad is hoping to have a new car ready for the Rallye de Nouvelle in April.

“Hopefully we will have the new car ready for the start of next year,” Crocker

said. “There’s a lot to do with having to actually get the cars, then do the build and development, and then get them to New Zealand for testing.”

According to Crocker, he and the Motor Image team will be part of the development of the new-spec WRX as a competition car.

“There will be a few groups cocoordinating to do the development and we’ll be one of them. The head of Subaru will be looking to get as much information as possible from us, and hopefully that will

sutton-images.com

Crocker to develop new WRX

help us be competitive straight away.”

And Crocker says so far so good on the new-look Rex, which features a hatch rather than a boot.

“The shape’s not a big issue, but the suspension geometry is different, so that’s what we need to work on,” he added.

“I know from driving the road car the rear suspension has changed, and it seems to have more grip at the rear. The rally car has always been a little ‘taily,’ so if we can get some more rear grip, it will be a big bonus.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

APRC = AC and PC RALLYING

14

Joel Strickland

THE Asia-Pacific Rally Championship will feature a new class structure for 2008, with both an Asia and Pacific Cup being introduced.

The three-round ‘nomination’ series are designed to encourage privateers to run the APRC events on a more limited budget, meaning Australian Rally Championship entrants could battle it out for the Pacific Cup by running just the Rallye de Nouvelle in Caledonia, the Rally of Canberra, and the Rally of

Whangarei in New Zealand.

Current APRC Champ and former ARC Champ Cody Crocker is hoping the new configuration will bring more entries to events.

“Its something that will make the APRC more appealing, because it will be so much more affordable,” Crocker told eNews.

“We have two 40-foot containers to move our stuff around the world, and that’s expensive, so to have three localised rounds will be a much more viable prospect.

“You always want more competition, and while it’s a

fantastic championship now, if you can get more competition, it will just get stronger.

“And if you look at the ARC, there are some really quick privateers, just look at Spencer Lowndes finishing second at

Rally of Melbourne.

“So it would be great to get them onboard.”

The Asia and Pacific Cups will be counted separately to the APRC as a whole.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

news

Pedder in a Fiesta for ‘08?

Joel Strickland

RALLYING SCOTT Pedder may run a third Ford Fiesta Super-2000 in next year’s Australian Rally Championship.

The former Mitsubishi factory driver is rumoured to be looking to get into a Fiesta for next season after spending 2007 on the sidelines.

However he says there is no deal done at this early stage.

“This time of year you look at all sorts of options with all teams both domestically and internationally,” Pedder told eNews.

“I still believe I can do the job required and obviously the option to be part of a factory supported operation would be the most preferred!

“At this stage its all relevant to finding sponsorship dollars, because there are less seats than drivers.”

Exact details on a possible deal are still unclear, however paddock talk suggests a third Fiesta, running as a satellite entry to the factory cars. While that would require significant

personal funding, Pedder has got ties with Trading Post after it backed his PWRC entry in this year’s Rally New Zealand. Therefore a Trading Post Fiesta running alongside the Pirtek cars is a possibility for 2008.

Another option is buying a car outright from Britek, which run Ford’s factory rally effort, and running a full private entry.

In other Ford rallying news, Britek has recently begun the process of international homologation of the Super 2000 Fiesta.

Currently the only team running the cars in Super 2000-specification, the new homologation will make the cars eligible to run throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

“There are still some things that need to be done before we get the full FIA sign-off, but it’s a credit to our rally group to have passed this milestone,” said Britek boss Jason Bright.

“Importantly, it’s a credit to our Australianbased team to have taken up the challenge of designing and building the Super 2000 Ford Fiesta.”

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Markko is back!

RALLYING

THIS WEEK

Australia V8 – Phillip Island (incl FV8, Fford) International WRC - Great Britain

Nex T Week (December 8-9) Australia

Shannons Nationals - SANDOWN

Australian GT Saloon Cars Commadore Cup Production Cars

NEED A CAR?

CLICK HERE sutton-images.com

MARKKO Martin will make a one-off return to competition at next month’s Bettega Memorial Rallysprint.

The Estonian, who withdrew from rallying after the death of his co-driver Michael Park in a crash in Rally GB, will drive a works-prepared Impreza World Rally Car in the Bettega Memorial Rallysprint at the

Bologna Motor Show on December 15-16.

Martin, 32, will compete headto-head with a host of full-time WRC drivers, top privateers and stars from other forms of motorsport.

Martin, who drove for Subaru in 2001, competed in Rally Portugal in 2006, and also raced a Honda in a round of the 2006 Danish Touring Car Championship.

COMING

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PRODUCTION CARS THE Australian Production Car Championship is set to be reborn in 2008, with the Performance Cars and Production Cars Championships set to merge.

The new merged class will be known as the Australian

Production Car Championship, running on the Shannons National Motor Racing Championships, plus the category’s hallmark event – the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour in February.

The merger may also see the return of the Manufacturer’s title, hopefully luring greater

support from car companies.

Performance Cars are expected to return to a compromised specification, with the main change coming in the form of tyres, reverting from slicks to factory grooves.

Craig Nayda is set to be installed as Category Administrator, having overseen

Dirk Klynsmith

Production Starts Again

the rise of the Performance Cars operation.

The decision will unite the categories under one set of rules and with a more appealing class structure.

Finer details are still up in the air and awaiting CAMS approval.

– BILL RIDDELL

Racing Stars and their Karts KARTING SOME of Australia’s best racing drivers will descend on VACC Park (Todd Road, Victoria) for the inaugural 4 Hour endurance race on December 8.

Forty entries have been confirmed by race organiser

and top-level karter Matt Wall, and the list of contenders has created plenty of interest.

Some of the drivers confirmed for the race include Shane Price and Jack Perkins, who will drive together in a ‘Jack lives here’ Arrow AX9.

Tasman Motorsport driver Jason Richards will pair up

with his regular V8 race engineer Adam De Borre, while other circuit racing stars including Steve Owen, Tim Blanchard, Tony D’Alberto, Tim Slade and Dale and Glen Wood will be apart of the action.

Holding up the honour for the media will be eNews editor

Grant Rowley and former MNews staffer Chris Jordan.

The four hour feature race will precede a 50 minute Midget enduro in the morning, as well as a Historic kart and pocket bike demonstration.

Admission for all spectators is free.

– ANDREW VAN LEEUWEN

Brock Back: ‘Split Pin’ to race Commodore Cup COMMODORE CUP PHIL Brock, brother of the late Peter, will make a comeback to racing in the final round of this year’s Commodore Cup series.

Brock will run a car with support from the Peter Brock Foundation at CAMS National Motor Racing Championships at Sandown Raceway next weekend (8-9 of December).

The car, previously campaigned, and generously made available by Christian

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D’Agostin at Bathurst to third place overall, has been prepared by Ray Beckerley (no stranger to preparing Commodore Cup cars).

Phil and brother Lewis, chairman of the Peter Brock Foundation, have urged supporters of their brother’s charity to join them at Sandown so they can personally thank them for there support over the last year.

The Foundation hopes to run its colours at more events

next year, Brock is also hoping to compete in the Bathurst 12H with nephew James and possibly David ‘Truckie’ Parson

in James’ VE ute. Parsons and Brock are expected to clash before then at Sandown.

– BILL RIDDELL

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5 Minutes with ...

MARCOS AMBROSE

Even with a wife and two daughters, Ambrose is looking for a Little Debbie MOTORSPORT NEWS: Cup, Wood Brothers, #21. This is a big step into the big time.

MARCOS AMBROSE: It really is. Just being in the Wood Brothers part of that, it is a calibre of team that goes back eons. If you love racing, if you love Fords racing, you know all about the Wood Brothers.

I feel like I have a lot to live up to, I feel like I represent a lot when I represent that company.

When you get to the Nextel Cup level, there is nowhere to hide. I am looking forward to the opportunity and I am conscious to represent Little Debbie and the Wood Brothers in the light they deserve and need.

Timing is everything in this business, but do you feel that with the Car of Tomorrow running full-time in 2008, this is the best time to get into Cup? I think it is an advantage for us to have the Car of Tomorrow.

The aero bodies on this generation of car are so finely tuned that there is quite an advantage to be had, providing that you have the engineering resources to throw at it. I think that COT eliminates all that in one fell swoop.

It also narrows the window of performance. It will be very easy to miss The Show; you only need to be four-tenths off pole and you will be going

home. On a 1.5-mile racetrack with 52 cars, that can happen. It will make the competition that much closer. You will need to get it right.

That will be what we face next year. We need to qualify for the races on speed, we will not be guaranteed owners’ points starts. The #21 car is out of owners’ points and I cannot see us getting in there any time soon. That is going to be a performance change for us and without the owners’ points, it will make it tricky every week.

Is there any detail on what will happen in the events you do not drive in?

There is going to be the #21 car and there will be another Cup car started in our team. That means that the Little Debbie sponsorship will get spread around, not just on the #21 but on the secondary car. At this stage, I believe that I will be jumping between both cars in my 12-race schedule.

What is your relationship like with the Cup drivers? There are some big names you raced against this year, like Johnson, Newman, Edwards and so on.

Are you on their radar now?

Yeah. They are big names, they earn a lot of money and they have jets, helicopters and stuff and I get to push prams around during the week!

But I am on their radar, we

talk to each other and there is a bit of respect there. Obviously, I have a lot more to do before I get to the level where they are now. At that level, they keep some distance but they know who I am, to some degree. I get thumbs up out the window in some of the races, they know that I am looking out for them and they look after me.

It will not be any shock to them that I have made it to the Cup series. I can’t wait to get there and run with them.

There are going to be some more Australian accents in the shop in Charlotte.

We are going great. We have Ken Douglas coming over, that will be huge for us. I rate Ken very, very highly and he came here last year for a look. He built a relationship with the team and it has obviously blossomed.

He has chosen to come here to help the team and that is fantastic.

We have Paul Forgie here now, he is learning the ropes and he is tucked away in the corner, not exposing himself too much while he learns and he will come online for us next year. I am really confident about that.

And we have Walter Giles. He had been in NASCAR for more than 10 years and he is coming here to be crew chief next year.

He is coming from a great

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level, he was number one engineer on Martin Truex’s car at Cup level, so he has a lot of information that we can use. He really came here before I was here, he came here for me, he has seen what I can do and he wants to help me get through.

That is a huge plus for us.

I used to watch him race in Australia – didn’t he end up on top of someone at the Gold Coast in a stock car?

There has been some talk of Rick Kelly running in a Craftsman Truck, some time in the future. Your thoughts?

Good luck to him, if he wants to come over and have a go. It is a tough deal, you need to have all your ducks in a row and be committed to it. There are a few spots here for international drivers in all three categories, the Yanks do like Australians so that is a real plus for him.

But I do think that the flavour of the month is to get open wheeler drivers and internationals into the sport, just like it was young drivers a few years ago, just like it was USAC guys and Modified guys from the north-east before that. It goes in cycles and right now, there is a window of opportunity. That window may not be there in a few years.

But if he is good enough and commits to it, I am sure he could do well over here.

Ford Racing

IT WILL NOT BE ANY SHOCK TO CUP DRIVERS THAT I HAVE MADE IT TO THE CUP SERIES, I CAN’T WAIT TO GET THERE AND RUN WITH THEM

PHIL BRANAGAN

chat

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TO me, driving a Top Fuel car down the quarter mile still feels surreal.

When we watch the replays of our races on TV, I have to remind myself that it’s me in the car, not dad! It feels like a dream, it is so awesome.

What’s it like to drive a Top Fuel car?

Awesome! The minute you take off, you are pushed back in the seat and the acceleration is unbelievable. You can’t move. You’re pinned back in the seat, you smash the throttle and before you know it you’re at half-track.

After half-track, the car snakes around, the clutch locks in and it is as if it’s a second take-off. It’s fantastic. You have to

opinion Amanda Shepherd Rookie Top Fueller use your peripheral vision to see where the car is going, because where ever you look, the car goes there.

At three quarter track, my hand is on the parachute lever, so you finish the run with one hand – and that’s not easy, especially when the car wants to do its own thing.

You’ve got to try and keep the car in the groove, then you’ve got to cross the finish line, and before you know it you’re pulling the parachute.

John Bosher

Life in the very fast lane ...

The biggest thing that I’ve learnt is that every single run you do is different. Every run, you experience something different.

You can go through tyre shake and you have to pedal it home, or something will happen to the bottom end of the motor across the finish line and the thing will catch on fire, or half track, the clutch locks in and it wants to do its own thing – it skates to the centreline and skates to the wall. It’s so fantastic. I love it so much.

The thing is, I don’t know how much longer I can do this. If I can’t secure some more funding, dad’s going to take my seat.

He wants his car back! I said to him that it’s not fair – I want to keep driving!

Letters

Have your say, email us at mail@mnews.com.au. Keep letters to the point.

Good points!

Just how good is this year’s point scoring system?

Everyone is having a fair dinkum dip at trying to gain extra position, right up until the dying moments of each race.

The smart cookies who drop out of the points (lower than 15TH place) park their beasts to save their rubber for a crack in the following race. And, with

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few exceptions, the pointscore ladder is a fairly accurate representation of where the true talent lies.

The best part is that the top four players have spent the last few rounds doing everything within their power to throw away their chance at taking the championship. And yet, there is still nothing in it!

Phillip Island should be a cracker. Let’s just hope that

Damien Muller dammit_red@hotmail.com

everyone plays fair this time around.

Matt Treacy matttreacy@bigpond.com

ED: Good.

Sherlock Holmes Noticed the clues for who’s interested in Channel 7’s It Takes Two program, and my tips are on Mark Winterbottom as the man of steel (Orrcon), and Dick Johnson as the former rock star ... How’d I go?

The Island’s Magic How good is Phillip Island going to be?

I know things like parity and points systems and no overtaking are always floating around V8 Supercars, but at the end of the day, for the

opinion

opinion

eLETTER OF THE WEEK Toddler Trading I think Toddler has done a terrific job at HRT since he has been there, sometimes overshadowing his teammate and mentor Mark Skaife!

I think it’s unfair to him that (if true) he gets slotted to another team because HRT have been lacklustre in their performances for 2007

– HRT have had a shocker (compared to their standards anyway).

Why to Jack Daniels Racing, though? Larry has had two rookies in there for the last year, so why would Todd move to a team with considerably less funds and consequently less of a pay cheque?

Don’t the teams employ

Dirk Klynsmith

second year in a row there is a Ford driver and a Holden driver going into the final meeting of the year separated by a handful of points. What more could you honestly want?

It will be interesting to see how Team Clayton plays ball this year, because they’ve essentially got two guys in the hunt. That means one less wingman, and we saw how effective a few team players can be in this situation last year.

Anyway let’s hope this PI meet is a drama–filled as the last, because that sure got people talking about racing cars …

David Jacobsen Adelaide, SA

Thoughts of a World Champ

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IN terms of competition, this year’s WTCC Andy Priaulx was the hardest World Touring Car Champ season ever, not just for me, but for all at BMW. We started well, but I think others were sandbagging to try to get the regulations tweaked. Chevrolet homologated things after Zandvoort and SEAT pushed and ended up ahead of us. To be honest, it felt as though people wanted a different champion this year, as though they are fed up of me winning. Some days it didn’t feel a level playing field.

All the manufacturers seemed to complain about the rules, apart from BMW. Really, SEAT could have won in 2006 and should have won this year, but they threw it away and we have just got on with it.

Sometimes we haven’t had the fastest car but we have worked towards the championship by taking points and keeping out of trouble and winning races where possible.

I thought this was the Year of the Mind. I felt everyone wanted to beat me, to take things from me, like my crown, so I had to dig deep and a positive mental state is important. When you don’t have the fastest car and you give your all and end up P14, you need to stay positive and focussed. I was the last person to leave the paddock after qualifying at Macau: I was lower down than I wanted to be so I had to look at ways of improving the situation. In the end, it worked.

I am my own worst critic, and the way I am hard on myself works – I have won four titles now. Teams hate me for the first half of a season because I am always pushing them and myself for more; then for the second half of the season they love me because we are winning!

their drivers, or does Holden Motorsport rule the roost?

Nick Firth Caboolture, QLD

Horspwr Clothing is giving away a t-shirt each week for the most creative letter. Send yours to mail@mnews.com.au, or Motorsport News PO Box 7072, Brighton, Vic 3186 21

V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES DUNLOP GRAND FINALE PREVIEW

The Fantastic 1. J Whincup 569

2. G Tander 562

4

22 Dirk Klynsmith

MARSHALL CASS

race John Morris/Mpix

On the eve of the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series Grand Finale at Phillip Island, there areonly four men who can win. Motorsport eNews spoke to the men who have been to title deciders before ... and won

4. R Kelly 521

3. C Lowndes 548

23 Dirk Klynsmith

MARSHALL CASS

Seton’s tip:

Whincup under pressure GLENN Seton has been to final rounds in championship contention on both ends, coming away with two titles and some disappointments. And he says that it is all about the Big Picture.

“YOU focus on the end result, and the end result is to win the championship,” he says.

“The only thing you can do is to keep things normal. The only thing you can control

James Smith

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opinion Glenn Seton Champion ‘93 and ‘97 is what is under your control and, when you stop focusing on that and looking around at others, that is when things go wrong. You need to stay focused on what is right there in front of you.”

“I would say that the driver under the most pressure is on Jamie Whincup because

you feel the press more when you are leading, not chasing.

“We went to the last race in 1997 with three drivers in contention and that is what we have this time around. If I had my choice, I would want to be where Jamie is, it is only pressure that he has to deal with. It is not like he has to think about anyone else.

“I would not like to be in Garth’s shoes, he would prefer to be going into the

final race in the points lead, but you can also argue that he has momentum. He is the bloke that is coming into it on a high, in terms of car speed. He has to be a little disappointed with the result from the last round, but the car was pretty fast.

“If he had not made that mistake [at Symmons Plains], he would have had a reasonable points buffer. But he has momentum from the last two rounds.”

race

Marshall Cass

On the way out ... Tander on the way in JOHN Bowe has been to title deciders and come out as both the winner and the loser. His victory in 1995, pictured right, was as simple as turn up, pole it and win the first race. In his last full-time V8 race this weekend, Tasmania’s favourite son isn’t so sure it’s going to be that easy ...

“I’D done a lot of racing when I won my title in 1995 so I was very experienced. I didn’t think about it too much, other than that I was very tense.

I’m still tense during race meetings today.

“I went to the race meeting reading a magazine. Fred Gibson was quoted saying ‘JB should play the percentage game.’

“I didn’t think I should. I tried to win races, because winning

opinion John Bowe 1995 ATCC Champion races takes care of your championship.

“It worked out for me and I was very fortunate.

“I remember it well. I won the first race, drove into pit lane and the guys had t-shirts that they had printed up saying ‘JB Champion.’ But I didn’t really think too much of it, because I just expected to win.

“I’M not a gambler, but if someone gave me $100 to put on the bloke I thought was going to win, I would put it on Garth Tander. That’s only my opinion.

“Garth is on top of his game. Besides that last race

at Symmons Plains where he made a mistake, he’s driven a smart, good, hard season. He has the right attributes of a champion – pace, experience, hardness. I think he put himself in a difficult position with that last race at Symmons, but he’s mentally strong.

“But any of the guys racing for the title are capable of winning the three races. It’s a great situation for the category to be in. I just hope there’s no

shenanigans and the title guys can get on with it.

But there are other cars out there that are capable of winning the race as well. The FPR cars are very quick at the moment, so are the HRT cars.

There are other players who are likely to feature in the duel.

“All I can say is that I’m glad it’s them going down there with the championship on the line and not me! I don’t have enough time for that!”

Ambrose: Every moment counts MARCOS Ambrose should know a thing or two about winning a V8 Supercar title.

In 2003 and 2004, he led the championship into the final round of the season and walked away with the trophies both times.

“It is crunch time. Every lap counts, every corner counts.

opinion Marcos Ambrose V8 champ 03/04 “When I roll into the last race of the year, I think that it’s a huge advantage to have the points lead. You have a little buffer and you do not need to

panic. If you are trying to catch up, it is so hard. I prefer to be the guy being chased.

“In the first year, especially, I really had trouble. I had a lot of rubbish to do, like PR, during the week and that really upset me. So I had to focus on staying calm and not letting the situation get out of control.

“You do things to buildup to an event, and that can be a priority, but not at this time of the year. You have so much at stake.

“In my second year, I focused on staying calm and not getting away from the situation. I just tried to treat it like it was another race.”

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Fujitsu V8 Supercar Season Finale

Two for the Money Bill Riddell Staff Journalist spasmodic. After winning both races at the Clipsal 500 and two from three at Queensland Raceway he has had only two other top-five finishes this year. Compared to 13 top five results from D’Alberto, who has typically been only a step or two away.

Kayne Scott, third placed in the championship is out of contention for the title, butshould Caruso have dramas he may be able to snag the runner up position.

Likewise Tekno Motorsport’s Jonathon Webb and Luke Youlden, who could also scrape into the top three standings.

After missing the opening round of the season

and some early poor performances, Youlden has enjoyed several race wins including stellar results at Bathurst. One could only speculate that had he enjoyed a full seasons racing the, championship would have been a lot more interesting.

Both Scott and Webb have failed to leave a lasting impression though there is no denying their regular strong performances.

Even if Caruso claims both races D’Alberto needs only

to finish second in one race or have two finishes in the top nine.

Anything can and will happen in racing but my money is on D’Alberto to cruise across the line to the championship, followed by Caruso battling hard and Youlden pipping Scott and Webb to grab third place in the championship.

Expect Youlden and Caruso to battle at the front of both races barring any unfortunate incidents.

Dirk Klynsmith

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opinion

Marshall Cass

WITH a maximum 72 points on offer at this weekend’s final round, the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series title is within reach of only two drivers.

GMAC Racing’s Tony D’Alberto holds a healthy 44 point lead into Phillip Island, his only threat comes from Sydneysider Michael Caruso.

After an incredibly consistent first four rounds of the season (including podium finishes in each race of the first three), D’Alberto has not enjoyed as much success during the second.

First he was excluded from the final two races at Oran Park after the diff in his car was found to be outside of the regulations. He then went to Bathurst with the championship in plain sight, but after a first corner, first lap, tangle in Race 1 he threw Caruso a lifeline.

Caruso’s season with Ford Rising Star Racing would best be described as

race

Marshall Cass

Formula Ford Season Finale

Level Head Vital at the Island opinion Andrew van Leeuwen mNews National Editor him, lap-times, like qualifying, are amazingly unimportant at this track. That long frontstraight means you need more than a tenth or two over the opposition to even think about pulling away, so expect the top bunch to be slip-streaming their way to chequered flag.

Racing an open-wheeler at Phillip Island is about track position, or, more simply put, being in the right place at the right time. Depending on wind direction and the alignment of the stars, that right place and time might be fifth position coming out of MG on the last lap. So the spoils will go to the smarter driver on the day.

And on 2007 form that honour has to go to Blanchard.

He’s been measured all year, using his head where he’s lacked raw speed to keep ahead in the points game.

Blanchard’s retirements have come mostly from incidents beyond his control (such as the two crashes at Sandown, neither of which were his fault), and even then they’ve been kept to a minimum. That’s not to say Timmy hasn’t been fast, think Clipsal, Sandown and Winton, but on the whole he’s been the smarter, not faster, driver.

The faster driver has definitely been Walsh, however it would seem his temperament may have yet cost him the title. His early season form went something like pole, Race 1 crash, storming Race 2 drive to midfield, Race 3 win. Impressive yes, effective no.

Tasmania was a perfect example; buckets more speed than Blanchard, the real opportunity to even up the title fight, and he spins out of the lead, unaided on the last corner of the race. Those are the moments that cost big-time.

Marshall Cass

HEADING into the final round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Phillip Island, there is a lot of chat about the spooky likeness of this year to last, with the whole seven points between Toll HSVDT and Triple 8 … again.

But the same can be said of the Australian Formula Ford Championship. Last year it was BRD Rising Star John Martin with a marginal lead over Sonic’s Tim Slade, this year the positions are reversed (just like the V8s!) with Sonic’s Tim Blanchard leading BRD’s Ash Walsh by a slender 28 points.

While Blanchard has a little bit of breathing space, it is still essentially a winner-takes-all situation. So who’s going to be the winner?

Well this is Formula Ford at Phillip Island, so good luck guessing that. Word on the street is that recent testing at The Island has Walsh ahead on raw pace, by something in the order of 0.3s. Unfortunately for

But Walsh does have amazing speed. At Queensland and Eastern Creek he had what it took to drive away from the field (which ain’t easy in a FFord), and, if anyone can do the impossible and leave them for dead despite The Island’s long straights, its Walsh.

Long story short, make sure you aren’t off getting a pie when the Fords hit the track at Phillip Island this weekend.

Because its going to go down to the wire …

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N

EEL Jani turned in a dominating performance at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit for the third round of the A1 Grand Prix championship.

After snatching pole position for both the sprint and feature races, in A1GP’s split qualifying sessions, the Team Switzerland driver was barely challenged. Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis, who both qualified in the top three, confessed they could not match his pace.

Local driver, Alex Yoong, struggled to find pace for Team Malaysia while the surprise packets, A1GP debutants, Michael Ammermuller and Robert Wickens also impressed, both qualifying top five for the sprint race.

Team Australia’s Ian Dyk was some two seconds off the pace in both sessions, qualifying 14th in the sprint session and 12th for the feature race.

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“The car was perfect,” said Jani after qualifying. “We kept improving it, but even for me the last lap was a surprise! I was trying to take it easy, so maybe that's the secret to going faster!”

Jani had a convincing victory in the sprint race after out braking himself on lap one, with Duval for Team France finishing second place, also unchallenged.

Third place was hotly contested, rookies Wickens (driving for Team Canada) and Ammermuller (Team Germany) dicing for position from the first corner, Ammermuller coming up trumps.

Sergio Jiminez rounded out the top five for Brazil after challenging Wickens late in the race. Team New Zealand’s Jonny Reid was sixth while Dyk made a great start, gaining several positions, before losing the rear, beaching the car in a sand trap.

The feature race, A1 GP’s 50th since its inception, was hotly contested. Jani had to

Sutton-Images.com

Swiss Roll

fight for his second win after a Safety Car period from lap 8 compacted the field and caused an influx of leading drivers into pit lane.

After a stellar Race 1 debut, Ammermuller hit Jarvis into the second turn, incurring a drive through penalty and pushing Jarvis back to 10th place.

Dyk clmbed from 12th to ninth, holding off Jarvis and Team USA’s Jonathon Summerton late in the race, to score his first points for Team Australia this year.

Jimenez claimed second place, leading briefly after safety car period. Duval grabbed third place, followed by Jeroen Bleekemolen (Team Netherlands) and Cheng Cong Fu (Team China) in fifth.

Chris Alajajian had a weekend he would rather forget for Team Lebanon, finishing 15th in the sprint and forced to retire in the feature with suspension dramas after gaining several places.

race

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Swiss Precision: Neel Jani carves through the turns at Sepang, trailed by Robert Wickens and Loic Duval for France in Race 1.

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Decent Debuts: Robert Wickens (Team Canada), above left, and Michael Ammermuller (Team Germany), above right, both had enviable starts at Malaysia. Ian Dyk recoverd from a DNF in the sprint race to gain points in the feature for Team Australia, below left. L to R, Duval, Jani and Ammermuller on the A1 GP podium, below right.

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A1 GP | Nations points Switzerland 61, France 53, New Zealand 46, Netherlands 39, South Africa 37, Great Britain 36, Ireland 31, Brazil 22, Mexico 17, China 16, Australia 2 [16th]

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SPECIAL EVENT CLASSIC ADELAIDE

Victory is for the Weeks

Kevin Weeks had a Supaloc on the front of the field at this year’s South Aussie classic CLASSIC ADELAIDE

LOCAL knowledge paid off at this year’s Aeromil Pacific Classic Adelaide, with South Australian Kevin Weeks winning last weekend’s 11th running of the classic event.

Weeks and navigator Bec Crunkhorn went into the event as favourites, and didn’t disappoint, taking their Porsche 911 to win every leg from Prologue. But the victory didn’t come without its problems, mechanical gremlins on the final day making life tough for the pair.

“We lost fourth gear in Mount Lofty and did Picadilly, Echunga and Paris Creek Long with only one gear before we were able to

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repair it at the lunch break,” Weeks said.

“When we were locked in fourth, we thought it was all over, but then we said ‘well, anything can happen’ and pushed on.

“We had to really lay into the car to keep the speed up, but on the straight sections we were limited to 200kmh when we should have been doing 250kmh in fifth gear.”

The problem brought previous winner Rex Broadbent into contention, however he and navigator Michael Goedheer were left to rue a mistake that may have cost them the rally.

“I overshot a corner yesterday and lost about 12 seconds – and that’s the margin we lost by today,” Broadbent said.

“We knew Kevin was stuck in fourth gear but quite frankly I wouldn’t want to have won because of his mechanical problem – he drove really well.

“I’m happy; Michael and I had a ball. It doesn’t get much better than coming into the final day fighting over tenths of a second with a driver like Jim Richards.”

The eight-time Targa winner came home third outright for the event, he and Barry Oliver struggling for grunt in their Porsche 944 Turbo.

Cameron Wearing and Rebecca Cochrane won the Classic section after a heated battle with Rick Bates and Jenny Brittain.

The Historic section went to Ray Jones and Wolf Grodd.

race

Yellow Mellowed: Rex Broadbent couldn’t add another victory to his tally this year, settling for second, above.

Chris Horne

Golden Oldies: Englishman Sir Paul Vestey gave his $1million-plus 1959 Ferrari California Spider a caning on the South Aussie roads, above, while Wes and Dianne Wilkinson too the prize for oldest car in the rally – their 1920 Frontenac Indianapolis Special, right.

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Salliard wins round, title AMRS

James Smith

AFTER being the leading driver throughout the year, it was fitting that Darren Saillard took out and ninth and final round of the Australian Touring Car Challenge at Oran Park Raceway over the weekend, and also wrapped up the ATCC series for 2007.

There was little separating Saillard and Scott Loadsman throughout the weekend, but it was Saillard who gained the upper hand and wrapped up the ATCC series crown by scoring the round victory ahead of Loadsman and John Vergotis is their respective V8 Supercars.

Saillard, who was driving the AU Ford Falcon V8 Supercar in the V8 Giants class, finished second behind Loadsman in both qualifying and the opening race, but in the two handicap races he managed to finish ahead of Loadsman with a eighth and third place finish.

It was Loadsman, Saillard and Vergotis who filled the top three places in the opening race, under the scratch race format, while it was the V8

Supercars of Ben Eggleston (VT Holden Commodore) and rookie James Henderson (EL Ford Falcon) that claimed the winning honours in Races 2 and 3.

Class wins for the round was Saillard (V8 Giants), Loadsman (V8 Supercars), Luke Searle (Super Tourers) and Amin Chahda (Future Tourers), and in the overall standings for the year wins were shared between Dale (V8 Giants), Saillard (V8 Supercars), Natoli (Super Tourers), and Chahda (Future Tourers).

TY Hanger proved too strong for his rivals in the OZ Boss class at Oran Park Raceway

during the final round of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS), taking two comprehensive victories and ended up defeating Sam Dale and Adam Barnes for the overall round honours.

After qualifying on pole position, Hangar outpaced Bob Muir and Dale in the opening race, while the second race saw him score another solid win, this time finishing ahead of Dale and Barnes.

Hanger was an easy victor in the overall Oz Boss series point standings.

After dominating the entire year in the Production Touring Cars, Luke Searle and his BMW 130 put on another similar

display by winning two out of the three races, and finished second behind teammate, Peter Kelly (BMW 130) in the third and final race, but it still wasn’t enough to deny him of the round win. Searle won the overall series point standings for the year and as well as class A, and Bryan Fitzpatrick (Class B) and Daniel Flanagan (Class C) scored wins in their respective classes.

Other winners over the course of the weekend included John Biddlecombe (Thunder Sports), Garry Stevens (Super TT), Kieran Pilkington (HQ Holdens) and Sam Zavaglia (Superkarts).

– DANIEL POWELL

West Aussie takes first title in SA KARTING

STEVEN Scoble won his first state title as a senior when he took out the South Australian Championship for Clubman Light at Bolivar last Sunday.

The young West Australian came off grid four and had to fight the leading trio of Jason Burns, James Sera and fastest qualifier James Smallwood for victory.

“This championship has been a long-time coming,” said Scoble.

“The best drivers from across the country were racing this weekend, so it’s great to

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finish the year on a high.”

On his return to competition, Adelaide’s David Clark finished outside the Top10.

In Clubman Heavy, NSW CRG driver Peter Lawler was undefeated all weekend.

Unfortunately, an opening lap incident eliminated local hotshots Michael Cross, Kevin Millard and Darren Clee.

Aaron Seton grabbed his first state title with a clear win in Midgets. Seto Jr qualified second to Joshua Buggy but then went on to win every race.

After success at the Masters Games, Daryl Tolmer was in the process of doing a

clean sweep in Over 40s – until a technical problem forced him out of the lead of the final. This handed Remo Luciani another blue plate.

The other South Australian Champions for 2007 are: Ryan Sanderson (Leopard Light), Kel Treseder (Leopard Heavy), Jake Spencer (Rotax Light), Cameron Waters (Rookies), Warren White Jnr (Junior National Light), Nathan Morcon (Junior National Heavy, Jye O’Keefe (Junior Clubman), Jack Cox (Senior National Light) and Scott Simpson (Clubman Super Heavy).

– MARK WICKS

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Wanless not winless WANLESS WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS

ROUND 5

MAX Dumesny went within a lap of claiming his first Wanless World Series Sprintcars victory for 2007/2008, however a collision with David Murcott as the defending Champion was about to lap the Victorian cut Dumesny’s right rear tyre.

Thanks to Dumesny’s demise,

Queenslander Todd Wanless swept to a victory ahead of fellow Queenslanders Andrew Scheuerle and Danny Reidy.

Finishing fourth was fourtime Australian Champion Garry Brazier in the Motorguard Maxim, while another local in Cameron Gessner rounded out the top five.

It was a tough night for championship leader Brooke Tatnell, who couldn’t get a handle on the tight confines of the Brisbane International Speedway track and came home in seventh place.

Nevertheless, with the bad luck that hit his Championship contenders, Tatnell was able to maintain his lead.

Another hard luck story was Robert Farr. After winning the B-Main, his A-Main charge

finished on the second lap and he was credited with last placing, losing significant ground to Tatnell.

Jason Johnson recorded another DNF, this time colliding with Peter Thorley on Lap 13, the American left wondering what he has to do to get a result for the Supaloc team.

– MATT PAYNE Points: Tatnell 726, Murcott 694, Dumesny 690, Reidy 684, Farr 676, Trevor Green 676.

Chris Carter

Magic Happens ...

ISLAND MAGIC SIMON Middleton and Peter Hill won a chaotic Sports Car endurance race at Island Magic last weekend.

A mid-race Safety Car was as many did their compulsory pit-stop, caused confusion as to who was the leader.

But Middleton and Hill won from Brent and Kane Rose.

In Formula Ford Taz Douglas won the Jayair trophy over Scott Pye and Taylor Gore in the 10-lap feature race while in Porsche

944s an engine failure to Josh Hunt left Tony Westaway to claim victory.

George Panagiotidis narrowly edged out Matthew Pearce to take out the Mauri Fordham trophy for Formula Vee. John Wood dominated HQs to win the feature race and Robert Braune claimed Historic Touring Car honours.

Ben Schoots came from behind to clinch Improved Production spoils while Glen Hastings won a controversial Sport Sedan finale.

– AARON SHAW

Johhny Mac continues to lead NZV8s NZ V8s PAUL Radisich has won the second round of the NZ Truth V8s Championship at Powerbuilt Tools International Raceway.

The Rat won two of the weekend’s three races, and finished third in the final reverse grid outing, securing him round honours aboard the HPM Falcon.

John McIntyre won the final race, giving him enough points to retain the lead in the

series, while Cam McLean was the best placed Aussie with fifth and sixth in the first two races.

In the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Craig Baird kept his unbeaten streak alive by clean-sweeping the second round.

“It really was the big achievement this weekend, “ said Baird.

“Then to back it up with three wins from three starts, I’m very happy, for myself obviously and also for my new team.”

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rear of grid

Looking Backwards

I

WAS watching some post-election television over the weekend, and I have decided that hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Alexander Downer was interviewed on the ABC and said (though not in so many words) that the Liberal Party knew that Kevin Rudd was going to be a real challenger as long ago as March.

Of course, the nature of politics is such that no-one on that side of the political fence would feel the need to share that information with the people they work for, ie, us.

But Downer also said what John Howard said on Saturday night; that he believed that the best thing to do was to get behind Peter Costello and get on with it. What happened a bit more than 12 hours later must have come as a shock, then …

The best-laid plans often come unstuck.

A month ago, you would have bet that Jack Perkins, right with Shane Price, would be racing in black next year.

punter@mnews.com.au You might have also believed that the whole Formula 1 spy scandal was over.

Seems neither of those things are true.

Having said that, it would have been nice to know in March who was going to win the election. I could have put a few dollars on the result.

Maybe that is what

Odd Spot

Costello did, because he would have had the same information as Downer did.

Maybe the real reason he is walking away is that he has cleaned up.

Whatever the reason, it proves one thing; no matter what they said in that joint interview last week, Costello hates Howard ...

Ouch!

suttonimages.com

THIS is what happens when a bunch of racers get together, even for a good cause.

A number of leading British drivers got together on Sunday to raise money for The Race Against Cancer. The shindig involved a series of races around the Rye House Raceway, an auction and a display of exotic cars.

Apart from the usual array of local racers, taking part were F1 designers Sam Michael and Mike Gascoyne, WTCC stars Alain Menu and Rob Huff, F3 Champs Romain Grosjean (Euroseries) and Marko Asmer (British), and two wheeled GP heroes Mika Kallio and Bradley Smith. The 17-year-old might have been keeping an eye on Stacey McMahon, the Aussie swimwear modelturned 125cc racer who was also there …

The event raised all kinds of money for good causes but, as this pic of Huff getting a short back and sides from Matt Hamilton shows, even when it is for charity, racers race.

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